PARIS, July 11. /TASS/. Washington’s decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine is putting Europe in an awkward position, Edouard Husson, professor at Cergy-Pontoise University and editorial director of French monthly Le Courrier des Strateges, told TASS.
"First, the US delivering cluster munitions represents an admission of failure in the sense that, having run out of available ammunition of other types, they have now started talking about cluster bombs," he pointed out.
"Second, given that cluster munitions are banned under international law, European Union member states are now highly disconcerted because the EU’s entire rationale has thus far revolved around the notion that Ukraine is an irreproachable country that abides by international law. But, the cluster ammunition situation shows the world that, in fact, Kiev is not as innocent as they would like to portray it as, thus putting the EU nations in an awkward position and depriving themselves of many arguments in Ukraine’s favor," the expert emphasized.
According to Husson, the majority of EU citizens stand for resolving the Ukrainian conflict at the negotiating table. "Understanding that the population does not support any further fueling of the conflict, the authorities in EU countries are starting to realize that the longer the public finds the conflict illegitimate, the harder it will be to maintain their policy of support for Kiev," Husson noted.
On July 7, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that the United States had decided to send cluster munitions to Ukraine, despite the fact that the United Nations opposes the use of such weapons. He also stated that Kiev had provided Washington with written assurances that the controversial weapons would be used in such a way as to minimize risks to civilians. Pentagon Spokesman Patrick Ryder said on Thursday that the United States intended to provide Ukraine with a type of cluster munitions that allegedly pose the least risk to civilians.
When detonated in the air, cluster munitions scatter dozens of small bomblets over an area of dozens of square meters. If unexploded immediately, these bomblets pose a threat to civilians long after the end of any conflict. The Convention on Cluster Munitions was signed in 2008. To date, 111 countries have joined it, while another 12 nations have signed the document but have yet to ratify it.